They had planned to stay at Jay the first night but got a late start so spent the first night in St. Johnsbury, Vt., then continued north. Six years ago the friends had found a little inn in Knowlton, Quebec, - Auberge du Lac - which Bock described as "a little five-star place, packed in the summer, but we were almost the only guests there in winter."

The bed and breakfast was a half-hour from Owl's Head, 45 minutes from Orford, and 25 minutes from everything else.

"You know, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays it's $15 to ski at Owl's Head. That's unbelievable, but we never saw in any of the ski areas any other U.S. plate," he said.

He attributed that to parity between the U.S. and Canadian dollar.

"Of course, this was the week after Super Bowl, so maybe that was a factor. It was very cold. We barely saw 20 degrees. It snowed every night except one," he said.

"These are nice mountains, in the 1,100 feet to 1,400 feet vertical ballpark, anywhere from 40-50 trails to well over 100. Bromont and Orford are pretty big. Bromont has well over 100 trails, and is supposed to be the biggest night skiing area in North America. It's the closest one to Montreal, probably only an hour away," he said.

Bock was born in South Hadley 60 years ago, and learned to ski at Mt. Tom when he was 10, before moving to Central Massachusetts.

He has been heading north of the border for 15 years.

"It's a shame people don't ski those mountains more. There are great views. Especially Owl's Head, with a great view of Lake Memphremagog," Bock said.